Magic Baby Slippers

Just a fly by post to show you the adorable Magic Slippers I whipped up for Baby.  They were made using leftovers from the Twist and Melody hats.

Terrible photograph using my belly as a table.  Mods and notes are here on Ravelry.

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FO: Puerperium Cardigan

A while back I finished a sweater for Baby, but only recently got around to uploading the pictures.  Despite being a June baby, I felt he needed at least one hand-knit sweater.  Hospitals and air conditioned buildings can all be chilly for a newborn, right?

I’ve been dying to knit the Puerperium Cardigan for a while.  (Look familiar?  This adorable little cardigan has been knit by such famous figures as the Yarn Harlot.)  It seemed like just the right thing for my little guy.

I knit mine out of RYC Cashsoft Baby DK in #800 Snowman, #804 Chicory, and #805 Cloud.  Sadly, all of these colors are soon to be defunct as Rowan is discontinuing the entire Baby Cashsoft DK line.  All three skeins came out of my stash and were purchased over several years out of the orphan bin at the Shoppe.  They just happened to coordinate perfectly.  I chose to do a striping pattern of 4 blue, 2 white, 2 green, 2 white, while keeping the border in blue.

The buttons were purchased from JoAnns as I didn’t have enough of any one complimentary button in my stash.  They’re sewed on with a bit of Perle Cotton #5 in a matching color.  (Pro-tip: Perle Cotton #5 makes for great button thread.  No need to double it and it is quite strong.  Comes in a huge variety of color to match just about anything.)

I have to admit that I’m totally smitten with this sweater and I kind of want to make another.

You can find my Ravelry notes here.

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Hat Parade: Mistake Rib Baby Hat

The Mistake Rib Baby Hat is a freebie from Ravelry.  I found it while browsing for a pattern to use up this one lonely skein of discontinued Rowan RYC Cashcotton DK that I had bumming around the stash.

The color is #602, but that’s about all I can tell you.  I picked this skein up from the orphan bin a couple years ago because it was too pretty to leave behind.

The hat features a simple mistake rib brim that is a little more interesting than your traditional 1×1 or 2×2 ribbing, but doesn’t have quite as much give.  Then it flows into normal stockinette hat construction.

I chose to alter the hat slightly and gave it a traditional swirled decrease top as opposed to the ties that are on the original pattern.  I also made the smallest size in this hat and it was too small for Izy, so it’s somewhere around the newborn head range.

All project details and notes can be found here.

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Hat Parade: Tipper

Tipper is a quick, easy knit with clever construction from another of my favorite designers, Woolly Wormhead.  Published in her book Bambeanies (available electronically or in print), this little cutie knits up flat and then is seamlessly grafted together.

I worked this one up in some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran I’ve had in the stash forever. I’ve had it so long that I’ve long since lost the tag for it, so I can’t tell you what color it is.  I do know I purchased it before the Yarn Shoppe moved to its current location, so I’ve had it at least 4 years.

I love how the bias detail gives a simple stitch pattern such a dramatic look.  Plus,  it has little “ears”.  This one is definitely newborn size, as it was too small for my 5 month old nephew.

You can view all details and notes for this project here.

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Hat Parade: Melody Hat

This hat is probably my favorite so far.  It knits up quickly, the colors are amazing, and it’s in one of my favorite yarns.

Knit very traditionally from the bottom up, the real beauty of the Melody hat is the color changes and the clever slip stitch pattern.  I bought the kit  (containing Hazel Knits Artisan Sock) from designer Melissa of Stick Chick Knits at Stitches West, but you could do it in any assortment of sock yarns.  If you buy the pattern separate from the kit, you also get Rhythm.

I knit this pattern without any modification.  It was another one nighter and I’m seriously considering knitting another one.  Project details can be found here.

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Hat Parade: Green Baby Bonnet

Today’s hat is really more of a bonnet.  I saw this adorable thing come through my Reader recently and just had to make one. Unfortunately, my plastic container stand-in doesn’t do this piece justice.

Wanting this to be closer to infant size, I dropped the yarn and needle sizes down.  I used Classic Elite Yarns Chesapeake in color #5981 “Tendril Green”.  I picked up this yarn at Knits by Nana when I was in Louisiana visiting a friend.  (The shop is lovely and the staff is friendly.  If you’re ever in Baton Rouge, I highly recommend a visit.)

The construction on this was definitely interesting, but not hard.  The applied i-cord was done with a technique different from the one I’ve used before, but it seemed to work out just fine.  I’d estimate my hat came out more of a 6-9 month size, but I’ll have to try it on a baby of that age to be sure.

All notes and mods can be found here.

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Hat Parade: Baby Armando

Lest you think this blog has turned into all gardening, all the time… I have been doing some knitting!  Quite a lot of knitting, actually.  I’ve just been rather busy and haven’t had a chance to photograph it.  Since Baby will be in the NICU for the first week or two of his life, I’ve been churning out hats.  Rather than show them all in one post, I’ll be presenting them one at a time in a multi-post hat parade.

Shall we begin?

First up today is the Baby Armando.  Since Sam will only wear the Armando hat, I thought Baby should have something to match.  (The pattern available is only for a Baby Amanda, but I’ve included my modifications at the bottom of this post if you’d like an Armando instead of an Amanda.)

I used Malabrigo Rios in color #871 “Playa”.  It was a partial skein, leftover from a quick Amanda hat that was knit for a friend’s wife between Santa Clara and Petaluma.  I still have a little leftover, so it may get some matching booties.

Baby Armando Hat Mods:

• Work first 6 rounds as written for Armando Hat
• Work 9 1/2 repeats of Background Lace Pattern
• Finish top as written

You can view all of my project details here.

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Miscellaneous Things

It’s been a heckuva couple of a weeks, but things are evening out a little now.  I’m not going to go into detail, but things have been pretty stressful.  But instead of burdening you with that, I’m going to show you an adorable picture instead.  We recently popped up north and visited some friends.  They have a beautiful baby boy and we spent lots of time playing Auntie and Uncle.  See?

C is chewing on a Sophie Giraffe I got him for his four month birthday.  That toy is seriously the best thing I’ve ever seen for teething babies.  He was grabbing it and chewing on it and just generally entertaining himself.  It squeaks and cleans easily and is easy for little hands to hold on to.

It was great to spend some time relaxing and visiting with friends.  I may have come home with a few skeins of yarn (only four!) and a couple new patterns.  What can I say?  Twisted and Yarnia are both amazing stores and I was feeling weak.  Plus, the stash was starting to feel neglected and we can’t have that…

(I did manage to pass up half priced Merino.  I’m still regretting that decision…)

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Actual Yarn Content

I promised you actual yarn content and here it is!

First up is the Willamette Scarf I’m working on.

Yarn is String Theory Caper Sock in Earthquake.  I’m nearly finished with the increases.  This is my purse knitting and part of the Stumptown Knits club that I talked about here.

Next up is Liisa‘s Hanukah/NewYear/Birthday sweater.

It’s the Yogini Bolero from by Wendy Bernard.  I’m knitting it in Elsebeth Lavold’s Silky Wool in color 113 Smokey Black. I’m to the part where she needs to try it on for length before I continue.  There’s a lot of “at the same time” in the beginning of this sweater, but otherwise it’s a quick and pleasant knit.

Finally, I’m working on a new sweater for the husband.  He requested a Dude Sweater.

It’s simply 16 rows of ribbing right now, but it will grow quickly. It’s knit in Cascade Yarns Eco Wool (just like his last sweater) and he’s already excited.  I’ve promised this one will take less than 2 years to complete.  (My goal is to get it done while it’s still cold enough to wear.)

I have a few other projects going for classes I’m taking at the shoppe, but they’re not far enough along yet to take photos.  Perhaps next week…

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Willamette in Progress

Crappy pictures or no, I’ve decided to post more this year.  When it comes to sharing in this space, I am often held back by the lack of good photos.  I see other peoples’ blogs and feel ashamed that I don’t produce the same quality when it comes to images.  But this blog is for me.  If all I want to do is use the webcam on the MacBook and give you a grainy cat picture, then that is my prerogative.

Wow… That kind of turned into a mini rant.  I thought about deleting it, but decided not to.  Anyway, moving onto the yarn part of this post.

See?  Yarn!  Plus a bonus Chloe shot.

Early in November, when Star announced her Stumptown Knits club, I was immediately smitten with the first project and treated myself to a membership.  I have knit one of Star’s patterns before (Prairie House Shawl* anyone?) and knew going into this that I would get a quality pattern.  I rarely do any kind of yarn/pattern/craft club, but this one struck a different chord with me.  It is simply a pattern club.  If you want to buy the same yarn(s) she used, there is a discount coupon included for Twisted (my favorite PDX yarn shop).  Otherwise, you simply receive your pattern and choose your own yarn.  There is a knit-a-long in her group on Ravelry if you want to join, but you don’t have to.  I love the low level of commitment that this club demands.

(If you don’t want to join the club, each pattern is also available for individual purchase.  But without the price discount or the perks.)

When the pattern showed up in my inbox in January, I went to my stash and found the squooshiest yarn I could in a color that would work.  I’m using Caper Sock from String Theory in the colorway Earthquake.  (I could never photograph it in a way to do it justice, so just visit the link to see the real colors.)  I honestly don’t remember purchasing this yarn.  I’m pretty sure I picked it up in a wool fume induced coma at a convention (Stitches? Sock Summit? Black Sheep?) or in a yarn shop on a trip.  If it was a gift and you’re reading this, I’m sorry I don’t remember (but, thank you!).  Regardless, it is a very yummy Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend that will feel nice next to my skin.

I must say, I’m very smitten with the pattern.  Linen stitch starts it off and is pretty familiar to me.  Then Star throws you into herringbone with an i-cord style edging.  I have never done herringbone stitch before and I am really enjoying it.  I can’t wait to see how the finished scarf turns out.  It already has great personality and the yarn is really taking to the pattern nicely.  I’ll keep you posted!

*I knit a complete Prairie House Shawl to within 2″ of the end before running out of yarn (my fault for not reading the yardage on the label). Because it was a STR serendipity skein, there was no way to get more or match the color.  I had to frog the entire thing.  It was a very sad day.

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